Improvement in reversible knob-latches



UNITED STATES vPATENT FFICE,

CHARLES s. JENNINGS, or NEW-HAVEN, ASSIGNCE To THOMAS KENNEDY,

or' BEANECED, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVERSIBLE KNOB-LATCHES.l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 172,880, dated February1, 1876; application filed January 4, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES S. JENNINGS, of New Haven, in the county ofNew H aven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in`Reversible Knob-Latches; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this.specification, and represent an interior view of the case, showing thelatch mechanism.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of knob-latchesin which the turning of the knob draws the .bolt within the case, andthe nose of the bolt beveled, so as to be automatically forced into thecase by the closing of the door, and thrown out by the spring, commonlycalled beveled-nose latches, the object of the invention being toconstruct the mechanism so thatthe latchbolt may' be reversed to adaptit to a right or left hand door, as the case may be; and it consists inproviding the spindle of the bolt .with a swivel on' its inner end,having an arm to engage a corresponding point on the yoke, combined witha lever hung in the case, and forked upon the spindle7 or so that thespindle passes through one arm, with a spring bearing against the saidarm of the lever and the head of the bolt, the tendency of which is toforce/the head of the bolt from the latchlcase, and the said leverconstructed with an extension through the case, so as to be turnedWithout removing the coveringplate, and such turning moving the spindlefrom the yoke, so as to disengage the swiveled arm,

which will allow the bolt to protrude so far from the case that it maybe turned to either position of right or left, and then forced back andautomatically reengaged with theyoke, all as more fully hereinafterdescribed.

A is the latch-case, Within which the lockbolt and its mechanism arearranged in the usual manner. B is the face-plate; C, the hub, with itstwo arms D D, also of the usual construction. E is the yoke, engagingthe arms D D of the hub, in the usual manner, and combined with aspring, F, which forces the yoke forward against the arms, and tends tohold them in a-'vertical position or state of rest, as shown. G is thehead of thelatchbolt, formed upon or attached to a-spindle, H, the saidspindle extending to the rear of` the yoke, and provided with a looseswivel or ring, the swivel constructed with an arm, a, and formed so asto interlock with a projection, b, on the yoke. Hence, the lturning ofthe hub draws the yoke back toward the hub, and with it draws in thebolt. d care the two arms of a lever, hung upon a fulcrum, f, the arm dturnedv up,.so as to surround the spindle H of the hub, but yet allowthe spindle to play freely when the knob is turned. A spring, h, aroundthe spindle H bears against the head of the bolt and the arm d. of thelever which surrounds the spindle. The spring is, therefore, constantlybearin g against the arm d of the lever, and the point of bearing of thespring upon the lever is above its fulcrum f, so that the pressure tendsto force the arm d upward.

The armcof the lever extends through the case at some convenient point,here represented as on the rear edge. By raising the arm e of the leverthe other arm is depressed,

as denoted in broken lines, and such movement draws the swivel-arm afrom its engagement with the yoke; and so soon as this disengagement iseffected the spring h throws the bolt so far outward, as indicated inbroken lines, that the head may be turned, the swivel on the endallowing the spindle to be so turned without turning the swivel 5 and4when the bolt has been turned to the desired point it is forced backinto the Case, and so soon as the arm a has passed tothe rear oftheyoke, thc pressure of the spring h turns the arm d up- Ward, and carriesthe spindle up, so that the' arm a re-engages with the yoke.

By this construction the' spring'll is the main or principal spring, itsoffice being to return the knobs to their position of rest, and the ofceof the spring h is mainly to hold the latch in engagement, or cause itto return with the yoke after it has been drawn. Hence, latch-boltspindle, with Y the swiveled` arm a the spring h may be a. light spring,as comthereon, the lever d e, with the yoke E and its pared with thespring F, and thus offer a operative mechanism, substantially as and forslight resistance only to the closing` of the the purpose specified.

door. T This device is applicable alike to rim and CHARLES S' JELNINGSmortse lat-ches. Witnesses:

I claim- JOHN E. EARLE,

The combination, in a knob-latch, of the CLARA BROUGHTON.

